The Teacher's Helper.—Subscription $1.50 per Year. 

VOL. I. JANUARY, 1895. No. 6. 





CHICAGO 


y\. fLANAGAN, 

^rWTThnrilM^^ 




Publisher 


Published Monthly by A. FLANAGAN. 

Etitefed at Chicago Post-Office as second class matter. 














































NAMELESS STORIES 


FOR 


Supplementary Readings 


AND 


A 


GENERAL EXERCISES. 

LIZZIE L. TRISTRAM. 


bO 


CHICAGO: 

A. FLANAGAN, Publisher. 




Copyright 1894, 

BY 

A. FLANAGAN. 






Preface. 

This book is intended only as a guide. The 
teacher using it will find it necessary to add more 
information matter after the answer has been guessed. 
For instance, in the lesson about the whale, talk of the 
way in which the whale is captured, how the oil is 
obtained. Measure the school room to give the child¬ 
ren some idea of the size of the whale. 

The author has found that the children enjoy a 
story more in which all can take part. The teacher 
should try to bring out as many points as possible. 

A written reproduction should always follow the 

talk. 

These lessons are very interesting for Friday after¬ 
noons. 

These stories, like all others, have a better effect 
if told by the teacher, rather than read. 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


There is a plant you often see 
In gardens and in fields; 

Its stalk is straight, its leaves are long 
And precious fruit it yields. 

The fruit when young is soft and white, 
And closely wrapped in green; 

And tassels hang from every ear, 

Which children love to glean. 

But when the tassels fade away, 

The fruit is ripe and old; 

It peeps from out the wrapping dry 
Like beads of yellow gold. 

The fruit, when young, we boil and roast, 
When old, we grind it well. 

Now think of all the plants you know, 
And try its name to tell. 



6 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


WHO WERE THEY? 

I. 

Five little mates in wintry weather, 

Side by side sat down together; 

Crowded close in a tiny room, 

Left to themselves in the dusky gloom. 

They lived in love, no little brother 
Pushing unkindly against another. 

And they lived in hope, for they thought with glee, 
When bed time comes we are all set free. 

II. 

Side by side in summer weather, 

Five little mates ran out together: 

Bare and free in the sunshine sweet, 

Brown and strong and merry and fleet. 

On the greensward soft they frolicked and played, 
But apart from each other they never strayed. 

They were one in friendship and glad endeavor, 

The five little mates who quarreled never. 

People have neighbors sometimes and because they 
do not like them they do not try to find out anything 
about them. Many times if they would only take time 
and watch them at work they would find that they can 
do many wonderful and interesting things. 


NAMELESS STORIES. ' 


7 


One day I went into the barn and there I saw four 
of my near neighbors, who had moved unbeknown to 
me, carrying off my eggs. These gentlemen wore 
brown coats of fur, had black eyes and funny shaped 
ears. You never could imagine how they would carry 
away an egg. One of them would lie on his back and 
take the egg in his arms, and the other three would 
drag him away, egg and all. Although a great many 
people would have been afraid, I just stamped my foot 
and said to these gentlemen, “Scamper, you rogues,’’ 
and they ran away quick as lightning, but not before I 
have time to call, “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty, come and 
catch these mischievous-. 

❖ 

❖ * 


I grow on a plant that grows from two to four feet 
high. The plant has flowers that turn to pods, and the 
pods burst open and I pop out. The plant that I 
grow on must have very dry and warm ground to live 
in. After I am picked from the pod I am put in a 
machine to be separated from the seeds. Then I am 
made into cloth and sold. When people want to buy 

the cloth that is made from me they ask for (--?) 

cloth. 



8 


. NAMELESS STORIES. 


I do not grow on a tree, but I am made from the 
sap of a tree that grows where the weather is very hot. 
The people in these countries cut holes in the tree and 
the sap runs out into cups, and then they hold it over 
the fire and keep melting it and letting it dry, and then 
it is put into machines and made all ready for boots 
and rubbers. But the sap from which I was made was 
dried in the sun, so that I would be white, and then I 
was cut into a little block, but some'of my brothers 
were put into the ends of pencils. Now I am sure you 
can guess my name. 

❖ 

I am one of America’s greatest poets. I used to 
live in a large house set way back among the trees. 
The children used to come to my home and I loved to 
have them. On one of my birthdays they gave me a 
chair made from the wood of the chestnut tree that I 
wrote about. I wrote “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “Day¬ 
break,” and several others that you children can recite. 
My name is-A 

Hundreds of years ago I was a beautiful fern tree 
and grew in a marsh with my brothers, but one day 
there* was a great storm and we were blown down and 
sank way down into the earth. And the same sun that 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


9 


gave us heat when we were trees gave us heat while we 
were in the ground. And now men dig us out of the 
ground to give back the heat that the sun gave to us. 
I am black and not very pretty, but I am a friend to 
every one in cold weather. 

Can you guess my name? 

I am called the cat’s “big brother,” because I have 
whiskers like the cat, and four feet and legs and ears 
and a tail like the cat, but I am very much larger and 
stronger and not nearly so gentle and tame. The cat 
eats mice and birds, but I eat larger animals and would 
eat men, too, if I could get them. My little brother, 
the cat, has a nice, warm chair to sleep in at night, but 
I have to sleep out in the woods. Men hunt us some¬ 
times and kill us to get our skin. And then they 
make this skin into mats for the king and queen’s 
throne. And they call them (-?) skin mats. 

If I should ask you to go down town and carry the 
house that you live in on your back could you do it? 

And yet I know of a little tiny bit of a tender ani¬ 
mal which carries his house with him wherever he goes. 



10 


nameless stories. 


He is only an inch or two long, and seems to have four 
horns, but they are really feelers, and his eyes are at 
the end of these feelers. In the winter he goes into his 
house and stays there during cold weather and lives 
without food. 

I was reading a story in a book the other day about 
a little girl who made a pet of one of these creatures. 
Her aunt found it, that is, she found its house, and did 
not know that there was a tenant in the house, and so 
she carried it home to her little niece. The little girl 
was very much delighted when the occupant came out. 

They placed it in a plant jar of violets and a toy 
cup was also sunk in the sand for the animal to feed 
upon. 

She declared one day that the creature knew her 
and that it would draw back into its shell when she 
spoke. 

I saw her prove this to be so several times. 

Can you tell the name of the little house carrier ? 


* ❖ 

I want to tell you to-day about a little blood thirsty 
murderer—that is, he murders sleep, if he doesn’t murder 
the persons who wish to sleep. They are found more 
especially near bodies of water, and the people who live 


nameless stories. 


11 


along the shores not only have to lock the doors and 
windows, but they have to bar them also. 

And yet they get in. It would be some excuse tor 
the little rascals, if it were a necessity of their existence 
to draw the blood of the giants they torment, but it is 
not. Let me tell you the right way for them to eat. 
They have a fringe of hair around their mouths and in 
the water they twirl these hairs around to cause tiny 
currents, which bring whatever food they want within 
reach. They breathe air through their tails, which are 
shaped like funnels. Their proboscis is a sort of hollow 
pipe with a very sharp point. 

When they bite a person they thrust this tube into 
the skin and as soon as it reaches a vein they shoot 
down thro’ it several lancets with barbed points notched 
like a saw, and then suck up the blood from the wounds. 
Not content with this they eject a powerful acid at the 
same time, which causes swelling and intolerable irri¬ 
tation and often serious sores. „ 

And they sing a song, too, that grows rather mo¬ 
notonous if kept up for any length of time. In South 
America in some places these little tormentors go in 
such swarms that the people are obliged to bury them¬ 
selves in the sand with only their heads sticking out, 
and that covered with a handkerchief. 


12 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


It is never so bad as that here, but it is bad enough 

to make us wish sometimes that there were no-and 

yet they, too, have their use. 


Last night, as I walked along the street, I saw in 
a number of places groups of robbers. I thought to my¬ 
self: “Those robbers are watching for men, to rob them 
of something that has been intrusted to their care, 
something a great Master has given them.” 

And as I walked on farther I met a man whom I 
recognized as my neighbor. He had a family of chil¬ 
dren at home that I knew needed food and clothing. But 
as I approached him I saw that these cruel robbers 
along the street had robbed him of his hard earned wages, 
and more than that, they had stolen his strength and 
even his mind so that he could not walk straight, and 
more than that, they had robbed him of his soul, for his 
Master had told him not to even look at the robbers, and 
he had gone where they were, and so the Master said: 
“ He could not inherit the kingdom of Heaven.” He 
went along the street staggering with his hat on one 
side, not knowing what he was saying or where he was 
going. And yet, children, this man allowed himself to 
be robbed. He might have turned away from those rob¬ 
bers, saying, “No, you cannot have my money; it be- 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


13 


longs to my family.” But the poor fellow had been 
robbed so many times that he was very weak and could 
not even defend himself. Perhaps you did not know 
that in our own country these robbers are allowed to 
stand on our streets and rob men. But they are, and you 
can see them every time you go to town. But always 
remember this: “They won’t hurt you unless you are 
willing.” They are shut up in glass houses and put in 
windows for men to see. 

The glass houses are bottles’, in each bottle there 
is a demon which is poison itself, and the name of that 

poison is-. * 

❖ ❖ 

There’s a dandy little fellow, 

Who dresses all in yellow; 

In yellow, with an overcoat of green, 

With his hair all crisp and curly, 

In the spring-time bright and early. 

A tripping o’er the meadow he is seen. 

Thro’ all the bright June weather 
Like a jolly little tramp, 

He wanders o’er the hillside, down the road, 
Around his yellow feather, 

The gypsy fire-flies camp; 

His companions are the wood-lark 
And the toad. 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


Spick and spandy, little dandy; 

Golden dancer in the dell; 

Green and yellow, happy fellow, 

All the children love him well. 

But at last this little fellow 
Doffs his dandy coat of yellow 
And very feebly totters o’er the green, 
For he very old is growing, 

And with hair all white and flowing, 

A nodding in the sunlight he is seen. 

The little winds of morning 
Come a’flying thro’ the grass 
And clap their hands around him in glee; 

They shake him without warning; 

His wig falls off, alas! 

And a little bald head dandy now is he. 

O, poor dandy, once so spandy, 

Golden dancer on the lea! 

Older growing, white hair flowing, 

Bald head dandy now is he. 

What is his name? 


— Selected. 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


15 


I called one day at the home of a friend and she 
showed me something which she laughingly called her 
pets. I thought that they were worms, but on looking 
closely I found that they had feet, and I knew they must 
be insects for worms have no feet. 

My friend asked me to go with her to get some food 
for the worms, and we went to a mulberry tree and 
gathered some leaves. When we returned I watched 
the little creatures more carefully and found out many 
things about them. They were busy spinning and my 
friend asked me to come again in three or four days and 
see what change had taken place. This I did and found, 
not the worms as I had left them, but little balls of silk, 
tho’ my friend told me that the worm was inside. Now, 
she said, if I leave these in a warm room the worm will 
soon cut a hole in the end of the cocoon and come out 
a beautiful butterfly. But I do not care so much for the 
butterfly as I do for the silk, so I shall put these balls 
into hot water to kill the moth inside. Then I shall 
send the cocoons to a city where the silk will be spun 
off. She told me she had made considerable money 
growing silk worms, because she needed but very little 
capital with which to start business, and it cost but very 
little to keep them. This riddle is not hard to guess, 
for you all know that silk, satin, velvet, etc., are made by 
the little-, which really is no worm at all. 



16 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


Yesterday I saw a feather from one of the largest 
birds in the world. This bird lives far away in a hot 
country where there are scarcely any trees, but for miles 
and miles you can see nothing but sand with the hot 
sun pouring down upon it. I am sure you would be 
frightened should you see one of these birds. It can 
run as fast as a horse, and is so strong that it can kill 
a large animal with one blow of its foot, tho’ it has but 
two toes. Its long legs are not covered with feathers, 
but with a tough skin. There is a down on its long, 
slim neck. 

Perhaps you will not call these birds very wise 
when I tell you that the men who hunt them sometimes 
put on skins of the birds, and the live birds think they 
belong to their flock. In this way they are caught. 
And sometimes when they see the men pursuing them 
they put their heads down in the sand and think that 
because they cannot see that they are hidden from the 
men. These birds eat grain, fruit and vegetables. They 
sometimes swallow stones, glass, pieces of wood, etc. 

They do not build their nests as robins and blue 
birds do, but the father bird scoops out a hole in the 
sand and several of the mother birds lay eggs and the 
sun hatches them. Some of the eggs are left outside 
for the baby birds to eat. 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


17 


The eggs are very large. One egg weighs as much 
as twenty-four hen’s eggs. The shells are sometimes 
used for cups. 

Look at your hats to-night, girls, and see if the 
feathers on it were taken from an- 


There’s a queer little house, 

And it stands in the sun; 

When the good mother calls, 

The children all run. 

While under her roof 
They are cozy and warm, 

Tho’ the cold wind may whistle, 

And bluster and storm. 

In the day time the queer little house moves away, 
And the children run after it, happy and gay, 

But it comes back at night 
And the children are fed, 

And tucked up to sleep, 

In a soft feather bed. 



18 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


This queer little house has no windows nor doors; 
The roof has no shingles, 

The rooms have no floors ; 

No fire-places, chimneys, 

Nor stoves can you see, 

Yet the children are cozy 
And warm as can be. 

The story of this funny house is all true, 

I have seen it myself and I think you have, too. 


Last evening when I was in the book store a little 
boy came in and said he wanted something but had for¬ 
gotten the name of it. Mr. Madon showed him several 
articles and Sammy finally found what he was looking 
for. I will describe it for you and see if you can guess 
the name. It was in the shape of an oblong block, was 
about a quarter of an inch thick, and would bend a 
little. The color was white. But this little block did 
not grow in such a shape, but was made from the sap 
of a very large tree that grows away off in the South 
land, where the weather is very hot. This tree grows 
70 feet high sometimes, and the branches and leaves 
are all at the top. The fruit is not good to eat, yet it 
is a very valuable tree, for the juice is used for many 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


19 


tilings. The sap is carried in a peculiar way to the 
factories, where the dirt is all cleaned out and it is made 
into large sheets, which are stamped for whatever pur¬ 
pose they may want them. It takes a long time for it 
to dry. Some of it is made into something that the 
boys are anxious to have in the winter time. Some of 
it is made into something that the children love to play 
with in the summer time. Some people wear false 
teeth, the plate of which is made of this material colored 
red. No doubt you have at home combs, buttons, knife 
handles, etc., and you have all seen machinery belts 

which were made of-. 

❖ 

❖ ❖ 

I was going down the walk, 

So pleasant, cool and shady; 

Right in the middle of the path, 

I met a little lady. 

I made to her my sweetest bow, 

She only walked on faster; 

I smiled and said, “Good morning, ma’am!” 

The moment that I passed her. 

She never noticed me at all; 

I really felt quite slighted. 

I thought, “I’ll follow you—I will— 

Altho’ I’m not invited.” 



20 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


Perhaps you think me very rude, 

But then, she looked so funny, 

From head to foot, all dressed in fur, 

This summer day so sunny. 

She didn’t mind the heat at all, 

But wrapped the fur around her; 

And hurried on, as if to say, 

“I’ll tend to my own gown, sir!” 

I followed her the whole way home, 

Her home was in my garden, 

Beneath my choicest vines—and yet— 

She never asked my pardon. 

I never heard her speak a word; 

But once I heard the miller, 

Coming down the sidewalk say, 

There goes Miss-. 

❖ * 

I am thinking of the largest animal in the world— 
not the largest fish, but animal. This animal lives in 
the water, but breathes air thro’ its lungs. How do fish 
get air? 

It must come up out of the water to breathe, be¬ 
cause it would drowm as we would if it depended on 
the water to give it air. It does not live in the lake, 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


21 


but in the ocean. Its head is enormous. When it is 
hungry it opens its hnge mouth and rushes thro’ the 
water scooping up thousands of little fishes. The skin 
of this animal in some places is two feet thick. The 
Bible tells about a man who was swallowed up by a 


❖ 

❖ ❖ 

• Once a gentle, snow white birdie 
Came and built its nest 

In a spot you’d never dream of; 

In a baby’s breast. 

Then how happy, gentle, loving, 

Grew the baby, Grace ; 

All the smiles and all the dimples 
Brightened in her face. 

But a black and ugly raven 
Came, one morn, that way; 

Came and drove the gentle birdie 
From its nest away. 

Ah! how frowning and unlovely 
Was our Grade then, 

Until the evening brought the white dove 
To its nest again. 



22 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


Children, this was Grade’s raven, 

This, her gentle dove ; 

In her heart a naughty temper 
Drove away the-. 

— Selected. 


FOR THE TEACHER. 

One day I said to my class, “Not far from here 
there is a beautiful lake. I wish that you could see it 
as I did one night. Oh, I’m sure you never saw any 
thing so beautiful. I stood on the bridge over the river 
where I could look out on the lake. 

On either side of the river, below and above the 
bridge, were boats and ships of different descriptions. 

There were large boats besides the “hog boats,” 
and there were schooners and sail boats, and on one side 
of the river, close to the bridge, was a tug, used—you 
know (explain) for what. On the other side was a 
boat house, where you could rent row boats. It was 
just at sunset and as I stood there I heard whistles. I 
saw the men hastening to swing the bridge and several 
row boats were making for the shore, because a large 
steam barge was puffing up the river. I thought I had 
never seen anything so grand and beautiful as that ship, 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


23 


but as I glanced out on the blue waters so calm and still 
that evening and watched the sun like a huge ball of 
fire drop into the water (so it seemed) I thought, 
“surely, God’s work is more beautiful than that of man.” 

I described the picture in my mind more fully and 
then asked if anyone could tell me the name of the river 
and the location. Strange to say, not all in the room 
knew that I meant their own Black River which they 
had crossed so man}^ times and the same old Lake Erie 
on whose shores we, one day, illustrated our geography 
lesson. Since then I, with the children, have taken 
pleasure in describing some well-known spot in as pretty 
a way as possible, leaving the location for the others to 
guess. 


Let me tell you of a little visitor who makes all his 
calls in the winter time because it is too hot in the sum¬ 
mer for his health. When it is summer with us he 
retires to the mountains and, with his neighbors, goes 
to housekeeping. He comes to see us about the middle 
of October. He begs for most of his food, but is willing 
to work very hard. He is an early riser, and often 
times calls before breakfast time. 


24 


nameless stories. 


His suit of clothes is of several colors—slate color, 
brown and white. It may seem that he has not suffici¬ 
ent clothing, but I heard of his telling a little girl one 
day that there is one who has clothed him warm enough. 

He feeds upon seeds of weeds that grow in sheltered 
places. Can you tell me the name of this cold weather 
visitor ? 

* * * 


There is a kind of oak tree which grows in a for¬ 
eign country, and it has a thick, tough bark which is 
used for several purposes. You know that if you take 
the bark off some trees they will die, but not so with 
this one. The tree must be about twenty-five years old 
before the bark is used; and it grows from twenty to sixty 
feet high. Acorns grow on this tree, and they taste like 
chestnuts. The first bark that grows on the tree is not 
used, but is taken off that more may grow. The bark 
is cut in long slits and then cross cut, and the pieces cut 
in this way are taken off. The bark is light and will 
float, hence fishermen use it for buoys, and it is also 
used for life belts. 

Because it is light it is used for shoe soles, and be¬ 
cause it is elastic and waterproof it is made into shape 
and pressed into bottles and casks, and we call it- t-. 



nameless stories. 


25 


A great many queer things happen in this world; 
and, just by chance this morning, I saw one of them. 
We have an aquarium at home where we keep little 
gold fish and other little water animals. Can you tell 
me what we give them to eat? One of the tenants of 
this glass house is a well-known friend of yours, but 
perhaps I know it better than you do. Let me describe 
the little fellow and see if you will recognize him. He 
is not a handsome fellow by any means. He has a very 
large mouth, and his body is covered with a thick, rough 
skin. He feeds on insects, but never chases them. He 
does not eat dead insects, but waits until a fly or bug 
comes near to him and then darts out his tongue so 
rapidly that the little victim cannot escape. He swal¬ 
lows his food whole. He sleeps in some out-of-the-way 
place during the day, but toward evening comes out and 
waits for prey. 

But now I must tell you of the wonderful thing that 
I saw this morning. As I stood watching my pets I 
noticed that this young fellow had a crack on his back. 
I did not know what had caused this, but presently he 
hopped upon the stones I had made a rock work of and 
began to wriggle about. Pretty soon I saw that he was 
pulling his head and arms through this hole on his 
back. Then he proceeded to unbutton his waistcoat 


26 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


and to take off his whole suit; but he had on a nice new 
suit under the old one, and he looked very fine in his 
shining new clothes. I wondered what he would do 
with his old suit. There were no closets nor clothes 
bags in the aquarium and I began to think I should 
have to reach in and get them, but I did not have to. 
My friend took care of them himself. He sat still for 
a few moments enjoying the change and then he took 
up the old suit and, remember now I am telling you 
the truth, he rolled it up carefully and then swallowed it. 
Can you tell me the name of this funny fellow ? 

❖ 

$ *!• 

Children! I know of a beautiful white temple 
which has been on the earth not more than eight years. 
It is unlike other temples which you have seen, for it 
has only two windows, but the windows are provided 
with blinds and shutters. It has a good strong founda¬ 
tion, but it must be kept in good repair or the temple 
will soon lose its beauty. 

A stove is kept in this temple day and night, sum¬ 
mer and winter. The stove should be given fuel about 
three times a day; and the stove like a furnace sends 
heat over the whole temple just as the steam warms our 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


27 


school-rooms. The roof of the temple is hard and firm, 
and built in such a way that nothing can penetrate it, 
but the roof is covered with shingles just the same for 
the sake of beauty. I know of some temples with black 
shingles, some red and some golden and some brown, 
but almost always when the temple has been on the 
earth sixty or seventy years these shingles turn white, 
and we talk about the “frost of years.” 

If these temples are used well they will stand a 
long time, but if they are abused they quickly resent it. 
They are God’s property, and he has said, “Whosoever 
shall befile the temple of God him will I destroy.” 
Children, I see forty such temples before me now, and 
I hope and pray that God, who is the maker and keeper 
of all of them, will see the work he assigns them well 
done. 

❖ 

❖ ❖ 

Gerty went into the parlor for her checker-board 
one evening, and what do you thing she saw? Two 
round, fiery eyes staring right out of the dark! 

How her little heart did beat. She had just been 
listening to a story about a tiger that broke loose 
from a menagerie, and she thought that these great eyes 
looked exactly like a tiger’s. “If I run away it will 


28 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


chase me,” she said to herself. “I will do as the man did 
in the story. I will look at it steadily and cower it with 
my glance.” So Gerty stared at the big, bright eyes 
and the big, bright eyes stared at Gerty. 

And then Gerty saw that the animal had two 
scoop shaped ears on top of its head. And then she saw 
that it had a striped body and a long tail and had four 
feet and crept along very stealthily and kept getting 
nearer and nearer. And presently Gerty discovered 
that it had on a coat and the coat was shiney and smooth. 
And as she looked more closely into its eyes she saw 
that the black spot in the center was round; and Gerty 
had time to find out all these things before the animal 
sprang at her, for she soon saw that it was not a tiger, 
but a cousin of the tiger’s, belonging to the same family, 
but not so large and strong. 

So when it came up and rubbed against her she was 
not afraid of it, but just picked it up in her arms and 
said: “You naughty-to scare me so.” 

The next day she looked at its eyes again and found 
that the spot was a different shape, and she asked her 
mamma to tell her why. Then she counted its toes and 
found—how many? What else did she notice about its 
foot and toes? 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


29 


Hundreds and thousands of years ago I was a beau¬ 
tiful fern tree. I grew with my brother and sisters to 
a great size. But after a while we were blown down and 
more fern trees grew in our places. And in course of 
time they, too, fell down and met us down deep below.. 

And the same sun which shines for you to-day, 
giving life and brightness and happiness to everything 
around, shone on us then and changed us into some¬ 
thing which men dig out of the ground to keep you 
warm in winter. 

To-day your great nation of which you are justly so 
proud would amount to scarcely anything if it were not 
for me, though I am dirty and black. The other day I 
heard a boy singing : 

“ Down in the dark mine, 

Underneath the ground, 

Where no gleam of sunshine 
Ever can be found; 

Digging dusty diamonds 
All season round; 

Down in the coal mine, 

Underneath the ground.” 

I felt sorry for that boy, but he seemed to be happy ; 
I felt sorry for him because it must be very dreary for 
him in the dark mine all day long. I know I enjoyed 


30 


nameless stories. 


being a fern tree out in the sunshine more than I do my 
present house. 

Note. —Talk more about coal, coal mine, etc. 

* 

$ ❖ 

One day in June I was traveling thro’ one of the 
Southern States and found a plant unlike anything we 
see in the North. It grew from two to four feet high 
and had green leaves and yellowish flowers. And two 
months later I saw the same fields again and found that 
these flowers had grown into pods and the pods were 
filled with something white. I examined a pod which 
had burst open and found that this white material was 
filled with tiny black seeds. I saw the pickers with 
baskets hanging on their shoulders. 

You know there are a great many colored people in 
the South. They do a great deal of the work in these 
great snowball fields. For many years the little black 
seeds had to be picked out by hand. In 1793 a man 
named Eli Whitney invented a machine which would 
pick out these seeds and now the cloth sells as low as 
five cents a yard. Before this the most expensive dress 
that the Queen of England possessed was a calico one. 
Some of the seeds are long and some short, hence have 
different names. 


nameless stories. 


31 


The United States raises more of this material than 
any other country. There are none of you but have 
among your wardrobe garments which are the products 
of the-plant. 


One hot day Eddie was lying in the shade of the 
old maple tree that grew in their yard. He had been 
reading fairy tales and had scarcely closed his book 
when he heard a voice say, Little boy, “I used to clothe 
an animal instead of a boy.” My home was on a hill¬ 
side and a very merry life I led. To be sure I did not 
see as many sights as I now do, but I enjoyed the 
country air more than I do the city. 

We spent all the day in the green fields and at night 
lay on the grass. We long led this quiet life till one 
day a man and his dog drove the animal that I was on 
into a stream of water which was close by. I could not 
think what they were going to do with me, they rubbed 
and scoured me so much. But when it was over I looked 
so clean and white that I was quite proud of my beauty, 
and I thought I was now to return and frisk in the mea¬ 
dow as I had done before. But, alas ! instead of setting 
the poor frightened creature at liberty he took out a 



32 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


large pair of shears. Only think of its fright. But the 
man held it down and began cutting me off close to the 
skin. Although the shears could not hurt me, because 
I could not feel, yet I was much frightened. I could not 
bear the thought of being parted from my dear friend, for 
we had grown up together ever since he was a baby. 
After I was taken off I was packed in a bag with a great 
many other fleeces and sent to some mills in a place 
called Lowell, where there were many little strange 
things that were forever twisting and turning around. 
These seized hold of us and pulled us and twisted us 
about in such a wonderful manner that we were all 
drawn out into threads, so unlike we were that I hardly 
knew myself. 

But it was still worse when sometime afterward 
they plunged me into a large kettle of dirty looking 
water. When I was taken out instead of being white I 
was of a bright blue color and looked very beautiful. 
After this I was sent to a cloth mill, where my threads 
were stretched in a machine called a loom, and I was 
woven into a piece of cloth. I was then folded up and 
placed on a shelf in a tailor’s shop, and I remember that 
one day you and father came into the store and your 
father said that you wanted a coat; and do you remem¬ 
ber the kind of goods that the tailor said I was ? 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


33 


Eddie had been very much interested in the story 
of the wool when suddenly he heard another voice say, 
u I used to live under the ground, not bright and shin¬ 
ing as you now see me, but mixed with dirt and rubbish. 
I cannot tell how long I was there, for it was always 
dark, and I could not tell day from night nor count 
weeks and years. I was so deep in the earth that I could 
not hear the church bell strike. But it was not dismal 
for me, for I could neither feel nor think. Well, after 
having lain there for ages, perhaps, all at once there was 
an opening made in the ground and men came down and 
dug me up. They talked about some fine copper. ‘I 
am glad we have reached it at last,’ said one of them ; ‘it 
will repay us for all our labor.’ They then put me into 
a basket and I was taken up above ground. After 
that I was put into a fiery furnace. I was not burned 
to ashes as you might suppose, because metals do not 
burn, but I was melted. The earth and the rubbish 
would not melt, so I was kept apart from them. I 
was then left to cool and become solid again. Men then 
came with hammers and beat me till I was quite flat. 
Every time they struck me I cried out as loudly as I could, 
but they went on all the same. After I had been beaten 
into a flat sheet I, with all my brothers here, was cut 
into little bits and placed in a strange kind of thing 
called a lathe. The man held me there while he turned 


34 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


a wheel with his foot so fast that it would have made me 
dizzy had I had a head. But tho’ I had no head I soon 
found that I was to have an eye, and then I was put on 
a sheet of thick, white paper. When you bought your 
coat you chose me and my companions for-.” 

* 

❖ ^ 


One day I found a piece of meat that had been 
thrown away and on it I noticed some eggs; I watched 
these eggs for a time and found that they hatched into 
little white grubs, which did nothing but eat until they 
were the size of the insect which laid the eggs. I will 
tell you about just one of them. Its skin became hard 
and then it did not eat for several days, but all the time 
inside the hard skin wings were growing, and as soon as 
the perfect insect was ready it split the old dried skin in 
front and came out with very stunted wings which, in a 
few minutes, while the new skin was becoming dry, 
quickly grew until after a little flapping and fanning 
the insect stood ready to be described, for you children 
to guess his name. I am going to tell you only the 
wonderful things about this little fellow, because if I am 
very plain you will soon guess his name. I found one 
of his ancestors last fall on the ceiling where he had 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


35 


died, and I discovered that each of his feet was composed 
of a pair of pads with a pair of hooks above them, and 
the pads clothed with a number of very fine, short hairs. 
Each pad was hollow, with a little tube projecting into 
it. Behind the tube was a bag connected with it. When 
this insect was alive, this bag was filled with a very clear, 
transparent gum. This gum came from the bag into 
the tube when the insect walked and thence it went into 
the little hairs, which were also hollow. Thus, at every 
step, the insect glued itself to the surface, but when it 
lifted its feet it took care to draw them up in a slant¬ 
ing direction, just as we would remove a moist postage 
stamp. But this poor fellow had become sick and was 
too weak to pull his feet up any mfcre, and so he was 
glued to the ceiling. But now let me tell you more 
about the live insect whose life I intend to watch. I 
find that it can smell and hear and taste, and that it can 
see more according to its size than any animal. To see 
as well as it we should require two more pair of eyes, in 
the side and at the back of the head. This insect has 
wings, too, which we have not, and has three pair of 
legs instead of one, and it has a mouth that would be¬ 
wilder any dentist. I might tell you more about this 
common curiosity, but I think I have said enough to 
show you that the work of God is just as perfect in the 


36 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


tiniest thing that creeps, as in the great worlds which 
whirl thro’ space. 

Now, you may think that I have described some¬ 
thing which you have never seen. Oh, yes! you have 
seen hundreds of them and wished a good many times 
that there were none to be seen, or to trouble you, when 
you wanted to read or sleep. But nothing in this world 
is without its use. 

Our pretty birds would often go hungry were it not 
for these tiny creatures. Long ago, fishermen found out 
that fish could be coaxed by a sight of them on the water. 
The toad, too, can make a good meal on a small family 
of the winged creatures, whose name you now have a 
chance to guess. 


Little Jack Wheeler felt very grand because he was 
going to Boston all alone. What did it matter if auntie 
did see him safely into the car at Salem, or that papa 
would be at the depot to meet him at Boston? Eve^- 
tliing was interesting now that he was traveling all by 
himself. He took a bright penny out of his pocket-book 
to buy the “Record” just as papa always did. Then 
he put the ticket underneath the steel rod of the seat in 
front of him, pulled off his hat and ran his fingers 


NAMELESS STORIES 


37 


through his wavy ringlets, a perfect copy of the young 
man opposite him. At the next station a queer looking 
man with a big wicker basket took the seat directly in 
front of Jack. Jack climbed upon the seat and smiled at 
the new comer cordially. The queer looking man re¬ 
turned the smile and then he opened the lid of the 
basket cautiously. “Polly wants to come out,” said a 
voice. “Poor Polly! Polly wants to see the show.” Jack 
looked around in astonishment. “Is it a parrot?” he asked 
excitedly. “Oh, can’t he come out one minute, if you 
please?” “Couldn’t,” said the man solemnly. He’d 
never come back again.” “I’m cold,” said Polly, 
“Poor Polly! Polly wants a cracker.” “Keep still,” said 
the man, giving the basket a shake. “ Keep quiet your¬ 
self,” answered Polly loudly. “I’m dying! Poor, Poor 
Poll,” wailed the parrot. “ Oh, do please, Mr. Man,” 
urged Jack politely,“do please let me just peep into the 
basket!” He climbed down from his seat and stood beside 
the man. “ I have a feather parrot at home,” said Jack 
quickly, “and I admire him, only he’s a stuffed one, and 
so I admire yours much more, you know.” “ I think 
parrots would like me,” continued Jack with charming 
frankness, “cause most animals do.” “So I would,” an¬ 
swered the parrot. “Let me out! Let me out! I want 
to fly.” 


38 


nameless stories. 


Everybody in the car turned around, stared and 
laughed and talked about Jack and the man and the 
wicker basket with the parrot. “ If I only had a crack¬ 
er,” said Jack, as he hunted in his pocket. “Do yon 
’spose he’d eat a butter scotch?” he asked eagerly as he 
pulled out a very wooly-coated one. It had stuck fast 
in his pocket, and a fuzzy covering was the consequence. 
“ No,” answered the parrot, “my tooth aches.” “ Oh,” 

exclaimed Jack. “I’m so sorry, I’ll-” But all 

the passengers were getting up and the cars had 
stopped, and the conductor called Boston. 

The queer man smiled again as he opened the 
basket very wide. There was nothing but an empty 
basket, and the man shut the lid down with a snap. 

“It’s the first of April, sonny, and I’m Prof. T,” 
said he. 

Poor little Jack was so mystified that he stood 
stock still in the middle of the car, and there papa 
found him. And papa explained the mystery. Can 
you? 

— Selected. 

'I' 

* * 

Last spring was a very busy time in our little 
village, and a great many people were looking for 
houses to rent. Among others came a gay young 



nameless stories. 


39 


bachelor, who said he wanted a house large enough for 
a family, but not a bit too large. Some one asked him 
why he did not bring his wife with him, and he said he 
had no wife and was not going to have one until he had 
a place to keep her. 

We told him that we had no house to rent, but 
that he might choose a site on which to build. 

The land belonged to the Miflin children, and they 
said that they would rent it for a song a day, because, 
you must know, Mr. Billy was a fine singer. 

He spent a day in examining the place and then 
concluded to accept it at the owner’s terms. He said 
that he wanted to build a house with a door just large 
enough for him to go through, and that the great 
trouble with tenements is, these days, that the doors are 
so large you never can tell who will be coming in. 

When he had finished his house he put in some 
furniture—not very expensive furniture, either. It 
was only pine, and was upholstered with dry grass, but 
it suited Mr. Billy. He spent some time in arranging 
it, and then went out to advertise for a wife. 

How do you suppose he did it? He went way up 
in the top of an apple tree, where he had a good view 
of the country round, and began to sing. He first gave 
one sweet song as payment for his rent, and then went 


40 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


on to tell of Himself and his fortunes. All day he sat 
and sang without a sign of success, but he was uot dis¬ 
couraged. 

“Of course,” he said to himself, cheerfully, at 
night, “one couldn’t expect such good luck the first 
day.” 

So the next morning he re-arranged his furniture, 
and went at his trilling again. 

“Really,” he exclaimed, as the second day passed 
and never a sign of a young lady, “this is strange; but 
after all it isn’t so bad. This apple tree is a nice place 
to sit in the breeze with the bees humming around. I 
don’t think I’d mind singing a week.” At the end of 
the week, however, he couldn’t understand where the 
people kept themselves. He supposed they must be 
taking a vacation down by the river or up on the hills, 
but he did think the first of June was time for them 
to return to their old haunts. But still he sang as 
gaily as ever. “Oh, where art thouj my Jenny?” and 
kept as light a heart as he could. 

The next morning he was rewarded by seeing little 
Miss Jenny appear, so he politely invited her down to 
see his humble dwelling, and was as attentive as could 
be. She, however, was hard to please. Said his house 
was small and stuffy, and that she couldn’t think of 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


41 


liking a man who put on so many airs, and directly 
went away. The Miflin children, who had been watch¬ 
ing all this, were very sorry for their little friend, but he 
said it was foolish to care about such a bold faced jig, 
and tuned up again. Another week of throat music 
and another cousin came along. 

“Patient waiters are no losers,” warbled Billy, as 
Miss Jenny — quiet and modest — said, shyly, that she 
thought the cottage was very cozy and she would like 
to stay. Then what a jubilee overflowed from the brave 
little fellow’s heart. It did not matter to him that his 
bride gently but decidedly removed the furniture and 
brought other to suit herself. He eagerly sought for 
more, but she promptly threw this, too, on the ground, 
as if to say, “What do men know about house-keeping?” 
So he finally let her do it her own way, and he sat near 
by and sang as if his heart were bursting with joy. 

This pleased himself and his wife, and the Miflin 
children; and, as even the neighbors approved, it was 
called a very happy match. One thing only did 
Dorothy Miflin criticise. She thought they ought to 
have more windows and doors in their dwelling and 
ought not to block up the door so. However, as Jenny 
paid no more regard to her than she did to her husband, 
nothing could be done about it. 


42 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


Soon there was a family of children to care for, 
and Billy spent most of his time, when he was not feed¬ 
ing the babies, in scolding the yellow cat, Caesar. 
Caesar took a more than common and neighborly inter¬ 
est in the family. He would climb upon the roof and 
lie there by the hour, stretching out a long arm toward 
the house, unmindful of the threats and persuasions of 
Miss Dorothy. 

It has been noticed that the smaller the house the 
more children there are in it. It was a great day when 
this family came out. Little Dorothy and brother Ben 
and Cseesar had spent much time wondering how many 
babies there were, and, as the door was so small that 
only one could stick out a head at a time, there was no 
means of knowing. It had been noticed that the 
father and mother had not been to feed the babies that 
morning. The biggest brother had been looking out of 
the door for some time waiting for his breakfast, and 
thus shutting in all the other brothers and sisters who 
were just as hungry as he was. All at once the child¬ 
ren inside gave the big brother a push from behind, and 
the greedy fellow found himself on the piazza. But 
there was another one in his place. All the morning 
what an anxious time it was! One after another was 
pushed out, and when the sixth one made his appear- 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


43 


ance, the wonder of the Miflin children knew no bounds. 
“They must have been squeezed awfully/’ said 
Dorothy. “Pooh!” replied papa, “that’s nothing to 
what we could do if we tried.” Does anyone know what 
Billy and Jenny’s last name was? 

— Adapted . 

❖ 

❖ ❖ 

QUEER NEIGHBORS. 

I was sitting under a tree on a warm afternoon 
watching for Tommy to come home from school. 
Tommy is a dear little fellow, and I like to meet him 
at the gate when school is out. It was not yet four 
o’clock so I looked about for something to help pass 

the time, and what should I see but Mr. W-just 

coming in from a hunt. Now, if you should look out 
of your window some fine day and see your next neigh¬ 
bor walking briskly along with a big, fat grizzly bear 
tucked under one arm, I think you would be surprised. 
Even if grizzly bears were as common as red squirrels 
you would not expect a man to be strong enough to 

carry one in that way. Mr. W-’s game was not a 

grizzly bear, but it was two or three times as large as 
he was, and it did look odd to see him hurry along just 
as if it were nothing at all. Now, what kind of game 
do you suppose it was? It was neither brown, black, 




44 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


white, gray, striped nor spotted. It did not have fur nor 
feathers, down, hair nor wool. It could not fly, walk^ 

run, jump nor swim. But Mr. W-seemed to prize it 

very highly, and I thought to myself that it ought to 
keep his whole family in meat for a long time. I do 

not know Mr. W-. They seem to be strange people. 

I have heard that he carries concealed weapons, and you 
know that is a bad thing to do and is against the law. 

Mr. W-is very neat and trim in his dress, but I fear 

he is a scamp for all that. It seems strange that with 
all his fine airs he should bring up his family under 
ground. In the West such dwellings are called dug- 
outs, and you may be sure that rich and stylish people 
do not live in them. Even poor folks will not put up 
with them except while the country is very new. But 

Mr. W-, who really seemed quite a dandy in his 

glossy hunting suit, laid down his game in full view, and 
began to open the passage into his dug-out. He did 
not even have a door, nor so much as an old blanket 
for a screen, but had it blocked up with chunks of 
earth, each one as big as his head. When I saw that, 

I said to myself, “I am glad I am not Mrs. W-and 

the children.” 

But, as I told you, I do not know the family very 
well Perhaps they like this kind of a door. When 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


45 


Mr. W-had pulled out these chunks of earth, he 

brought out his game and went downstairs backwards, 
dragging it after him. 

He was gone some little time, and I wondered if 
he was salting it down for future use. I wished I 
might follow and see how his house looked inside, but 
I could not do it, and besides it would have been very 
rude indeed. At last he came upstairs and began to 
close the door-way. He picked up chunks of earth 
and fitted them in very nicely. If he found one that 
did not make a smooth joint, he carried it off some dis¬ 
tance, so that there would be no pile of earth to mark 
the place of his house. “Who would have thought,” 
said I to myself, “that these odd people could live 
almost next door without our ever seeing their dug- 
out?” 


And I looked down the street for Tommy. I 
wanted to show him the queer little house. Just at 

that moment away flew Mr. W-right over my head, 

and, though I searched right and left, I could not find 
the funny little dug-out where he had so cunningly hid 
his great, green worm. 


— Youth's Companion . 



46 


nameless stories. 


I want to tell you to-day of a food which you could 
not do without, — something which you eat every day, 
yet I wonder if you know how it grows. This food is 
obtained from a plant, but not from a plant that grows 
in our garden, but “away down south in the land of 
cotton.” 

But the food is not the stem of the plant, nor the 
leaf, nor the fruit, bnt it is in the juice of the stem. So 
you see that different plants have different uses. Some 
are grown for the fruit, some for their leaves, some to 
give shade, some for fragrance, and some simply for 
beauty. This plant grows very tall, 12 or 15 feet. 
The stem seems to be jointed. From these joints 
spring out long, narrow leaves. The stem is called a 
cane. The cane is hard without, but inside it is soft 
and spongy, and full of sweet juice. 

Imagine a whole field of canes, and at the top of 
each a beautiful bouquet of flowers. But these are not 
walking canes, neither do they grow for beauty alone, 
but when they are ripe they are tied in bundles and 
passed through rollers that squeeze the juice out of 
them. Then the juice is boiled until it becomes thick. 

Now we have something that looks like molasses, 
but we do not care for the molasses, so it is put into 
barrels, which have holes in them for the molasses to 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


47 


drain off. A brown substance is left, which we use for 
some purposes, but to make it white and pure it must 
be boiled again. But this food is in more things than 
these canes. It is in all fruit. In beets especially it is 
very abundant. It is something which nearly all boys 
and girls, particularly if they have a “sweet tooth,” 
like too well, for very often it makes them sick ; but 
surely they would not be strong and healthy without a 
little of it in their food. 

❖ 

THE BABY QUEEN. 

She was born in a palace swarming with busy 
folks, or, at least, most of them were busy. I’m sorry 
to say, though, that a few were very lazy, indeed, 
and made the others do all the work. She was such 
a queer little baby, lying very still in her fuzzy, 
white dress. Her mother was altogether too busy 
to take care of her and the other babies, for, you 
see, she had a great many tiny sisters and brothers. 
If it hadn’t been for many kind nurses, I am afraid 
they would never have grown up at all. But the nurses 
watched over them very tenderly and carefully, and fed 
them on bread and milk all day long. 

They never had to wait for something to eat. The 


48 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


nurses fed them “between meals, ” and at all times, and 
so they grew ev£r so much faster than some babies do. 
Why, some of them doubled in size in only half a day! 
So you see their bread and milk agreed with them very 
nicely indeed. I think the nurses must have loved this 
ONE special baby more than the rest. Anyway, they 
soon began to give her better food than the other babies. 
She had beautiful, rich, “ royal jelly” to eat, while they 
had only “bread” mixed with a tiny drop of honey. 
After all, the most wonderful thing about this queer 
little queen was what made her a queen. It was the 
royal food she ate. It wasn’t because she was first heir 
to the throne, but just because she had “royal jelly ’’ 
for dinner and the other babies didn’t. Whoever heard 
of any other queen who owed her crown to her dinner ? 
She had a tiny room all to herself — and so did most of 
the babies for that matter. It was a cozy little room 
with six walls, and the door was always open till the 
queen baby was about nine days old. Then the nurses 
after they had given her a good, big meal of “royal 
jelly,” shut the door tight and locked it. For twelve 
long days the baby lived all alone in her little locked- 
up room. Nobody came to see her, or took any notice 
of her. 

At first she seemed to enjoy being alone, and never 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


49 


thought of wondering why the nurses didn’t bring her 
some dinner. To tell the truth, she was very busy 
growing and putting on a suit of beautiful new clothes. 
As the door was kept locked so tight, nobody could 
look in to see how the suit was made, or how the wee 
baby put it on all by herself. After the dress was 
donned, the queer baby began to turn slowly round and 
round, and cut a small hole in her door with her strong, 
little “teeth,” — for she had cut all her teeth by that 
time. Presently the door flew open, and the little queen 
came out and looked around. I wonder what she 
thought of the rows of six-walled rooms; the crowds of 
busy workers bustling about, bringing in new supplies 
of food and piling them into the rooms; and the lazy 
loungers, here and there doing nothing, nothing at all. 
It must have surprised her, but she was a very quiet 
little lady and only called out something which sounded 
like “ zeep, zeep, zeep. ” After that she went back into 
her own little room to rest, but presently walked boldly 
out. She was so hungry she walked around in the 
food rooms and helped herself. Nobody objected, for 
they all knew it was the new queen, and, of course, she 
could do as she wished. 

From that time she was perfectly at home in the 
busy palace, and was generally quiet and good, but oh 


50 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


dear! she had one great fault. She was very'jealous of 
the other young queens, and, sad to tell, I’m afraid she 
had a fight with them and drove them all away. 

Haven’t you guessed who the little queen is by 
this time ? 

• — Youth's Companion. 


•Into a lonely hovel walked a man one day, who 
was so tired and discouraged that he at once threw him¬ 
self on a pallet bed. He supposed that no one lived 
in the little shanty, but after he had been there for 
some time he began to look around, and discovered that 
there was another person in the house. But as no one 
spoke, he concluded that he would keep still and find 
out, if possible, the occupation of the inmates of this 
lowly hovel. He found, after watching a few minutes, 
that iu this humble dwelling there was being manu¬ 
factured beautiful silver lace work of gold and silver 
threads. The spinner would fasten the thread from one 
rafter to another with gum. It seemed a very dirty 
place for such fine work to be going on. but it was done 
as neatly and with as much care as though it had been 
in a mansion. The lady of the house, too, took good 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


51 


care of Her little ones, and they were early taught 
How to make this same kind of lace. 

The stranger arose presently, unnoticed, and as all 
were so intent upon their work, He said nothing but 
went out into the garden and there he found this same 
kind of lace work hanging on the bushes. But this 
was prettier than that in the house, for it was covered 
with jewels, and, as the sun shone upon it, it was simply 
beautiful. The man by this time was very much inter¬ 
ested, and determined to find out, if possible, more 
about this wonderful family. 

He found, upon investigation, that they have rela¬ 
tives in Bermuda, who dress in beautiful black and 
yellow suits. These friends weave bright, yellow silk, 
and fasten it on the top branches of trees on either side 
of a road or pathway. But they are rather treacherous 
persons to know, for they do not hesitate, after inviting 
a party to walk into their parlors, to snap off their 
heads and make a meal of the poor unfortunates. But 
they have other relations who are just as industrious, 
and even more ingenious, than those who reside in 
Bermuda. These relatives are all masons. Their 
houses are all built in the ground in circular shape. 
The inside is lined with silk, and no drawing room in 
the land is so beautifully plastered and papered. The 


52 


nameless stories. 


door of the house, though, is the most wonderful. It is 
very thick, and is made of layers of earth and silk, 
with a silk hinge, which is very elastic and springy, so 
that as soon as the door is opened it flies shut. These 
masons are very bashful creatures, and do not let any- 
one find their home if they can help it. So they glue 
moss and earth on the outside of the door to make it 
look just like the ground around it. They have still 
other relations, who live under the water. They have 
a way of building their houses with the door downward, 
so that the air cannot escape. 

But I have no more time to talk about this family. 

I am sure you know now that I mean the-. 

❖ 

❖ ❖ 

Humpty Dumpty has country cousins, 

Who come to the city in Spring by dozens; 

They make such a brilliant show in town, 

You’d think that a rainbow had tumbled down. 
Blue and yellow and pink and green, 

The gayest gowns that ever were seen; 

Purple and gold, and oh! such style, 

They are all the rage for a little while. 

But their visit is short, for no one stays, 

After the Easter holidays. 

— Youth's Companion . 



nameless stories. 


53 


One evening as the children gathered around 
grandma’s chair, and begged for a story “ ’bout when 
you was little, gran’ma,” she said: “Something that 
we had for .supper to-night, children, made me think of 
the time when a peddler used to come by our house once 
a month, bringing buttons and thread, and such little 
things, to sell. He used to carry seeds and cuttings of 
plants, from one farmer’s wife to the next, and they 
liked to see him come. He could tell all the news, too, 
from up the road and down. One spring morning he 
came, and, after mother had bought all she needed from 
his big red wagon, and he had fed his horses, and was 
sitting by the kitchen fire waiting for his dinner, he 
began fumbling about in his big pockets in search of 
something. Finally, he drew out a very small package 
and handed it to mother. ‘I’ve brought you some 
“ love apple ” seeds,’ he said. ‘ I got them in the city, 
and I gave my sister half and saved half for you.’ 
‘ Thank you kindly, ’ mother said, as she looked at the 
little yellow seeds, “ I’m right glad to get them. What 
kind of a plant is the ‘love apple’?” ‘Well,’ said the 
peddler, ‘the man who gave me the seeds had his 
plants last year in a sunny fence comer. The flowers 
are small, but the fruit is quite large, and is a bright 
red color, and looks very pretty among the dark green 


54 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


leaves. You can’t eat the fruit, though, it’s poisonous. 
It’s something new. The man who gave me the seeds 
got them from the captain of a ship from South America. 
They grow wild there. ’ So mother planted her 1 love 
apple ’ seeds in a warm corner, and they grew, and the 
little yellow blossoms came, and after them the pretty 
red fruit. We children would go and look at it, and 
talk about it, and wonder if it would harm us if we just 
tasted it. One day mother heard us talking about it, 
and she called us away, and told us that if we could not 
be satisfied to look at the pretty fruit without wanting 
to eat it, she would have to pull up her 1 love apple ’ 
vines and throw them away. We knew she would hate 
to do that, for no one else about had them, and she was 
very proud of them. So we kept away from that corner, 
and the vine grew and blossomed, and the red showed 
in new places every day. The birds didn’t seem at all 
afraid of the poisonous fruit and ate all they wanted of 
it. One day in the early fall my uncle came to make 
us a visit. When he went out in the garden he stopped 
in surprise. ‘ Why Mary ! what fine vines you have! ’ 
he said to mother. ‘ Where did you get them ? ’ 
“We call them ‘love apples,’” mother said, and then 
she told him how the peddler brought the fruit seeds. 
But when my uncle found that we were afraid to eat 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


55 


them he had a hearty laugh at us, and then he showed 
mother how to get some ready for supper. And now 
you children may tell me the other name for the ‘ love 
apple.’ ” 

— Adapted. 

* ❖ 

A SLEEPY FAMILY. 

In a tiny palace, 

Quite too small for you, 

A thousand little creatures 
Doze the winter through. 

When the ripe nuts patter, 

Off to bed they creep, 

Huddled close together, 

Till the snow drops peep. 

Lazy, did you call them? 

No, I’ve never seen 
Busier little workers, 

Tho’ their mother is a queen. 

But she always taught them 
That they must not shirk, 

And the livelong summer 
They'were hard at work. 

Through the fields of clover, 


56 


nameless stories. 


Through the lonely wood, 

They were carrying honey, 

Like Red Riding Hood. 

So you must not blame them, 

Tired little things, 

If each wee small worker 
Folds at last its wings. 

Warm and snugly nestled, 

In their sweet, sweet home, 

In their cozy little house, 

Till the snow drops come. 

* 

* # 

Who is this ? What a strange suit! A dress of 
black and white, but strangely turned about. His coat 
is buttoned on hind side before, and his white vest 
shows on his back. A funny suit, indeed. Who dares 
to dress in such an odd way ? Have you seen him ? 
He comes North the last of May, and in June he and 
his wife set up house-keeping in farmer Brown’s 
meadow. Do you know her ? She dresses very plainly 
—in dark brown, with a yellowish vest. He is a very 
jolly singer. I think he is happier here than in the 
South. Down there he dressed just like his wife, and 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


57 


he did not sing the jolly song we hear. He said chink! 
chink ! just like his mate. 

One day last June I took a walk in farmer Brown’s 
meadow. I wish you had been there. The birds had 
gone to house-keeping, and they were so afraid I would 
find out where. Poor little birdies ! I was only look¬ 
ing for a painted cup for a bright June bouquet. Papa 
bird flew over my head and scolded me as hard as he 
could, and mamma bird flew from one weed to another, 
and watched me very closely. I did not try to find the 
npst. I knew I could not if I should look all the morn¬ 
ing. But it was there. People who have seen this bird’s 
nest say that it is made of dry grass and tiny roots, and 
lined' with softer pieces of grass. It is loosely put 
together, and is not very deep. In the nest are four or 
five little eggs. Sometimes they are a light grayish 
blue color, and* sometimes they are a brownish clay 
color, with dark spots. When the eggs are hatched 
the father and mother take good care of the little ones 
for a while, feeding them on grass-hoppers and bugs, 
which the farmer likes to have killed. Soon after they 
leave the nest they will have to take care of themselves. 
The little birds look like the mother, and in the summer 
the father bird will leave off his bright coat and put on 
a plain dress, too. In September, they will leave us, 


58 


nameless stories. 


and go to the Southland, where they are called rice 
birds or reed birds. Do you know what we call them 
here? 

—American Teacher. 


* 

❖ * 

A PRETTY GOWN. 

All the shop windows in town are full 
Of silk and cotton and gingham and wool, 

But none of them shows a gown so gay, 

As the one Mrs. Humming is wearing to-day. 

’Tis the very same fashion her grand-mother wore, 
And hasn’t a seam or pucker or gore: 

The sun doesn’t fade it, the rain doesn’t spot, 

And it’s just the thing whether chilly or hot. 

’Tis a perfect fit, and it won’t wear out, 

But will last her as long as she lives, no doubt. 

—Anna M. Pratt. 

❖ 

* * 

The July sun glared down on the mesa, and 
warmed even the mountain water, until it felt pleasant 
to Kitty’s bare feet, as she splashed along in the irri¬ 
gating ditch. 

From the melting snow fields, a long way above 


nameless stories 


59 


came that mountain water. Kitty could see the long 
ditch bringing it down, winding through the summer 
greenery on the mountain side, and she looked at it 
nearly all the time, for grandpa had gone up to fix the 
head-gate, and she was watching for him. 

But the oak brush was thick and high, and Kitty 
did not see him at all until some one said right close to 
her, “Kitty, pussy! Kitty, pussy!” and there stood 
grandpa, behind a big patch of oak brush! His rifle 
was on his shoulder, and he was leading his horse. A 
black-tail deer was thrown across his saddle, and thrown 
over the deer was the tawny hide of a wild animal; 
for grandpa was a pioneer, and had been a mighty 
hunter in his day. “ Here is a rug for your feet when 
you hop out of bed on cold mornings, ” grandpa said, 
as Kitty ran up; “ and, little Miss Kitty, here’s another 
kitty for you — a little wild puss in snow shoes.” 
Now Kitty had heard of “ puss in boots, ” but of “ puss 
in snow shoes,” never. Her arms, then, were open 
wide as grandpa put in them a little animal with snow 
shoes on. The little thing was about as long as grand¬ 
pa’s hand. His ears were silken tufted; he had only a 
short bob of a tail, and sure enough, on his feet were 
snow shoes—not like the long board ones that in winter 
grandpa kicked oif his feet at the cabin. door, but nice, 


60 


nameless stories. 


soft, furry ones in which he could trip as lightly over 
the soft deep snows of the range, as any puss on parlor 
carpet. The Snowy Range was his home, and his 
spreading, clumsy looking feet were made for tread¬ 
ing on a snowy carpet. Kitty named him “ Link, ” 
and soon no house cat could be tamer. No house cat, 
either, ever showed more affection than Link did for 
Kitty. 

He followed her everywhere, and was always 
pleased and purring at her presence— with a purr, 
Kitty said, “ bigger than a two cat’s purr. ” It is well 
that he nearly always purred, for sometimes when he 
lost Kitty, he would give a cry, between a shriek and a 
squall, that made Kitty’s hands go up to her ears. 
Link’s kitten blue eyes soon changed into big yellow 
ones, he grew so fast; but fast as his body grew, his 
snow shoes grew even faster, so that he was a queer 
looking pet, as he shambled about after Kitty, with his 
stump of a tail going. Awkward as Link looked, he 
could spring, and so one day the chickens suffered. 

Then Link had to be chained up. Sometimes at 
night, he would break away and climb over the roof and 
down to Kitty’s little window. Then he would scratch 
and squall until Kitty came. Then, hearing Link 
purr, you would think Kitty held a whole family of 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


61 


cats in her arms. Who was this friend that belonged 
to the cat family, yet was not a cat? 

— Youth''s Companion. 

* ‘ * 

“ I am going to have something new next week, ” 
said Aunt May, the day after Christmas. “A new 
dress?” questioned Daisy. “A new book?” asked 
Fred. “ A new guitar?” guessed Hattie. “ You 
haven’t come within a mile of it, ” said Auntie. “It’s a 
great deal more important than any of those things. 
You all know about it, too. Just think a minute.” So 
they all pulled their thinking caps clear down to their 
eyes, as Daisy said, and pretty soon Fred asked, “ Will 
we have it, too, auntie?” “ Yes, ” she said, “ We’ll all 
have it.” “ Will Mr. Hill’s folks have it?” And 
Fred’s eyes began to twinkle. “Yes,” said auntie, 
“ Everybody will have it. ” Then the eyes of Daisy 
and Hattie began to twinkle, too. And they all guessed 
what it was. Can you ? 

— Adapted. 

❖ * 

Why does school not keep on November 31st? 

Why does a cow never lose her upper teeth ? 


62 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


Pam and Jake were hunting in the woods for “Jack 
in the pulpit” and “noble lion wort”, to put in the 
little garden beds which the school children had made 
by the school house door. They had planted sweet 
peas and bachelor buttons and prince’s feather; and 
Aunt Hulda had given Pam a geranium and Jake a 
French pink. But the little gardeners were not satis¬ 
fied. The beds were not full enough. So all the child¬ 
ren planned to hunt in the woods for something to set 
out. It was the last day of May, and very hot, and 
Pam and Jake after digging their roots and gathering 
great bunches of blue violets, thought they would take 
a run to the ice cave, a deep place, away in among the 
rocks under Poplar Hill. The ice and snow in there 
did not thaw away until late in the summer. They 
had to creep through a small hole to get in, and it 
wasn’t very light inside, either. Jake said that foxes 
sometimes dined in there, and it made Pam “creepy” 
to crawl in, so she always coaxed Jake to go first. 
Just as Jake had taken off his broad brimmed hat 
to shout into the hole — “to scare out anything 
there” — he said something wriggled among the low 
bushes that partly covered the mouth of the cave. 
Pam and Jake had just hid behind a rock, when out 
popped an animal, 15 or 18 inches long, blackish above 


nameless stories. 


63 


and chestnut red below, soft hair and bushy tail. She 
had something in her mouth, and she scudded off as fast 
as her short legs could go. She had been so busy that she 
had not discovered Jake and Pam in their hiding place. 
“ Oh, it was a little one! I saw him! She had him 
right by the neck ! ” whispered Jake. “ Carrying him 
just like old Topsy carries her kittens! ” whispered back 
Pam. “She’s got a hole in there among the rocks, 
and she’s moving ’em somewhere.” “Let’s watch 
her, ” said Pam. So they kept behind the rock and 
waited. Before long the little creature scurried back, 
darted into the hole, and came out with another baby. 
She held her head high, but the little one’s hind legs 
dangled on the ground. Pam and Jake held their hands 
over their mouths to keep from laughing out loud. 
Then they got up still, and followed her. Didn’t she 
scamper along for fear something would seize her on 
the road— over the knolls, among the sweet fern, under 
the rick fence, and into the new clover lot! Ah! she 
has dug a new house under a big rock in the clover 
field, so as to be handy for breakfast! This little ani¬ 
mal was a wise house-keeper. She had planned it all 
out this way, I suspect. The cave was all well enough 
in winter, so long as she was all rolled up in a great 
gray ball, and stiff as a stump with the cold, but it was 


64 


nameless stories. 


no place for the babies to grow and get fat, for where 
was there anything to eat ? Most likely, on one of her 
foraging trips she had discovered this springing clover 
field, and resolved to move into it. But, oh dear! there 
was the house to build first. So she had to set right 
about it, working with all her might. And that, with 
the moving, was a hard task, indeed, for she could 
carry only one baby at a time. Pam and Jake watched 
her bring three more babies; then she came out on the 
door step, sat up, and looked all about to see if she had 
been observed. Jake snickered, Pam giggled, and away 
darted the mother down into her house, with a chicker 
of alarm. 

— Adapted. 

* * ❖ 

One Saturday afternoon, Charlie’s cousin Edith 
came to see him. By and by, Eric and his sister Cora 
came to play with them. “ Uncle Ned is at home, ” 
said Charlie, “ Let us ask him to tell us a story. He 
always tells nice ones, because they are true. ” Uncle 
Ned said he was willing, and in a few moments the play 
room was very still, while four eager children waited 
for him to begin. 

“Well,” said Uncle Eric, “I’ll tell you about a 
family by the name of Brown. There was papa and 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


65 


mamma Brown, and four children. Mary Brown had 
blue eyes and yellow hair. Bertha Brown had brown 
eyes and brown hair. Josephine, had black eyes and 
black hair. Thomas, had gray eyes and red hair. 
These children did not look much alike, you see, yet 
they had the same last name and belonged to the same 
family. That was strange, wasn’t it?” asked Uncle 
Ned. “ Why, no sir. Cora and I do not look alike 
but we are brother and sister, ” said Eric. 

“Well,” said Uncle Ned, “King of the Mines, 
who called to see you last week, has a large family, and 
I shall introduce you to some of his children who do 
not look much alike. Here is the one of the family 
that has yellow hair. This member is often called upon 
to cure sore throat. It is a solid, brittle, yellow sub¬ 
stance, without taste or smell, and will not dissolve in 
water. When heated it forms a thin, yellow liquid, 
and heated to the boiling point it forms a yellow vapor. 
This vapor condenses into a fine yellow powder. When 
heated in the air it takes fire, burning with a blue flame. 
It is used in making matches and gun powder, and it is al¬ 
so used in the destruction of insects and germs of disease.” 

Note. —Explain that this substance is also found 
mixed with other metals as well as iron, and sometimes 



66 


nameless stories. 


alone. It exists, too, in some vegetables, and in.the 
juices of some plants. 

Uncle Eric then introduced another one of this 
family. This member had a strange way of attracting 
everything to it, especially his iron and steel friends. 
For this reason, what is his name? 

Note. —Explain that the members with brown 
hair,, and red hair, are red and brown haematite, used in 
making paint, and that mixed together they make a 
pretty blue. 

❖ ❖ 

What it was started it, who can tell ? 

But out of a cloud’s black cave, 

It rushed with a furious shout, pell mell, 

Like the charge of an army brave. 

It beat at the casement that trembled sore, 

It scampered the grasses through; 

It tangled the vines, and the reeds it tore; 

And then ! What did it do ? 

The vanes on the steeples it dizzy made, 

Each spun like an air}- top; 

It twisted the boughs in the summer glade, 

Till the leaflets were ready to drop. 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


67 


It pommeled the pool till it fairly boiled; * 

The silly sheep scampered — Whew! 

The crystal of wayside rills it roiled; 

And then — what did it do ? 

It jostled the birds that flew about, 

It tumbled the seas of grain ; 

It seemed to have blown the great sun out— 

It shone not that day again. 

Then, as quick as # it came, it took its flight; 

But tho’ trees it had made to fall, 

The frail, little, meek, little daisies white, 

It had not harmed at all. 

* 

❖ ❖ 

Children, let me describe myself to you and see if 
you can tell what I am. I am very heavy, and am of a 
blue-gray color. I am found sometimes in company 
with my friend, sulphur. But, as soon as I am taken 
from the ground, I am separated from my companion. 
The vapor which rises during this smelting process is so 
poisonous that it would destroy all the grass and shrubs 
in the neighborhood, and would kill any cattle in the 
vicinity. But they prevent this by having pipes, 
sometimes a mile in length, to conduct the smoke to 


68 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


the outer air. I was just going to tell you of some¬ 
thing that I am used for, but, if I should, you would 
guess my name immediately. But I will say just this 
much. I was very useful when the Declaration of 
Independence was declared, and also in the “ Sixties. ” 
I am used to a great extent in the manufacture of dyes 
and colors. I am mixed with another metal and used 
in the manufacture of type, and mixed with tin, I am 
made into a cement to join metals. I am also used in 
medicine, but I must never be taken; except under the 
advice of a physician, because I am poisonous. 

You have met me many times, I’m sure. Can you 
not remember my name ? 

* 

❖ * 

Tommy used to have a pet of which he was very 
fond. It was a graceful little animal, with a long body, 
and covered with short white fur, short legs and a dimin¬ 
utive tail. Its ears were long, and its eyes pink and 
very soft in expression. It used to live in the woods, 
but always chose a dry place, because it could not burrow 
in the moist ground. It used to sit up on its haunches, 
and with its ears erect, made a very cunning appear¬ 
ance. It did not need very much care, and was of very 
little expense. It fed upon vegetables, cabbage leaves, 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


69 


celery tops, grass, glover, dandelion and other weeds. 

• But Tommy’s papa did not like the pet so well, 
because it gnawed his young fruit trees. Of course it 
was natural for it to do that, because it had teeth that 
were made on purpose for that work. But papa 
thought he could not have his trees spoiled, so he said 
the pet must be killed. But he kept putting it off, and 
one day by accident one of the little creature’s front 
teeth was broken off, and, as is often the case, the tooth 
opposite continued to grow, and reached such a size, 
finally, that the poor little thing could not eat, and 
died. What name do you suppose Tommy put on his 
tombstone ? 

❖ 

❖ * 

I want to tell you to-day of an animal whose native 
home is the mountains. But it has been tamed and 
found to be useful to man for various purposes. This 
animal is covered with hair, has a short tail, high hoofs 
and long horns. It is easily tamed, yet is not very 
gentle. It rather enjoys a quarrel. As I said, the 
mountains are his native home, where animals of his 
kind can be raised on very scanty herbage — so poor 
that other animals will not eat it. The milk of these 
animals is very rich and nourishing, but the cheese and 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


JO 

butter made from it has a peculiar, strong flavor. The 
skins of these animals are dressed and made into fine 
leather, of which shoes, gloves, bags, etc., are made. 
The hair is made into ropes and wigs. The horns are 
made into knife handles, and the fat into candles. 
There are different breeds of these animals, but on 
nearly all grows a fine coat of hair or wool, which is 
made into garments, for which a large price is generally 
paid. 

* • 

❖ * 

I know of another animal which is really useful to 
man; indeed, she is the most useful of all animals, I 
think, for nearly every part of her can be used for some¬ 
thing, and yet she is one of the most awkward animals I 
have ever seen. The only pretty feature about her are 
her eyes. They are soft and mild, and really beautiful. 
Her feet, or hoofs, are divided so as to form two toes. 
Glue is made from the hoofs, and the hair is used in mix¬ 
ing mortar. The skin is used for making the soles of 
shoes, and the horns are made into knife handles, combs 
and other useful articles. The tails, even, are used for 
soup, and the fat is made into candles. But the most 
curious thing about this animal is the way she eats. 
If you watch her, you will see that she swallows her 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


71 


food whole. Should you not think she would have 
indigestion? But, oh, no! Nature has provided her 
with four stomachs, so she uses the first one for a store¬ 
house only, and after she has been eating for some time, 
you will see her go off under the shade of a tree, and 
there contentedly stand and chew her food. Then she 
swallows it again; but it goes to a different stomach 
this time. It then passes to the remaining two 
stomachs, where the digestion is completed. 

* * 

I. 

There’s a grim old king in an ermine robe, 

Who comes when the flowers are dead, 

And he hides their graves ’neath a snowy shroud, 
And plants with a pitiless tread 
His icy foot ’cross the singing brooks, 

And breathes on the leafless trees, 

Till they bow them down to his icy rule 
And moan in the chilling breeze. 

II. 

He chokes the path on the mountain side, 

And piles his barriers high, 

Till bush and brake and tangled hedge, 

All under his mantle lie. 


72 


nameless stories. 


He waves his hand and flashing shapes, 

And crystal fingers grow; 

Where once the song birds built their nests, 

Now cold the north winds blow. 

III. 

He strews along the palace wall, 

Carvings of feathery grace, 

And by the lowliest cottage door, 

He leaves his glittering trace ; 

He flecks the sky with cold gray clouds, 

And shakes his whitened hair, 

As if to say — this stern, old king — 

Defy me — who shall dare ? 

❖ 

* * 

I belong to the same family of animals that your 
pet cat does, that is, my form and general structure are 
the same. They say that when I walk proudly along, 
my head uplifted, and majesty and power shown in 
every motion, that I well deserve the title of King. I 
have brothers and sisters living in Africa and Asia. 
We are of a tawny or yellow color. The largest of us 
are eight feet long. We sleep in dens and caves, and 
prowl around at night in search of smaller animals, 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


73 


which we eat. One of our favorite methods of obtain¬ 
ing food is to hide in the grass and reeds on the borders 
of a stream, and wait until deer, wild horses, etc., come 
to drink. We then spring upon them and carry them 
away to our dens. Some people think that we like to 
attack men, but we don’t. We will run from men 
sooner than seize them. We hunt our prey by night 
more than by day. Since I have been caged, I hear the 
men say that they build fires oftentimes to frighten us. 
We always take good care of our young. We can 
make a terribly loud noise, which sounds very much 
like distant thunder. 

The Bible tells of Daniel in the-’s den. 

* * 

❖ 

Last fall a bed quilt was spread over mamma’s 
flower beds, and, in the spring, when Jane and Belle 
took it off, they found that it had faded from beautiful 
yellow and red to a homely brown. But such wonderful 
things as the children found under the bed quilt. Pale, 
green, tulip leaves, bleached grass blades, folded buds 
of yellow and purple crocuses, and snow drops, like 
little white sleeves, green dotted and with scalloped 
edges. They all seemed glad to see the sunshine. 



74 


nameless stories. 


There were little insects crawling about under the 
warm leaves on top, — bugs and beetles — all going 
very slowly, as though they had the rheumatism. 

A spider hurried out rather lively, and swung him¬ 
self up over the dried honeysuckle vines, and a couple 
of caterpillars crawled on the gray fence rails. There 
was a bonfire in almost every neighbor’s yard. Jane 
and Belle had one too. They burned up the flower’s 
bed quilt. Such a big pile as it made. I could not 
begin to say how many matches Jane used, but the 
frolicsome spring wind sniffed every one out, so that 
the hired girl had to bring a shovelful of red coals from 
the kitchen fire before the quilt would catch. Then 
there was a great roaring of scarlet flames, and blue 
coils of smoke, all twisting and leaping upward. 

“ Oh! What’ll the flowers do for a bed quilt when 
winter comes again? ” said Belle. 

“ I guess the sugar maples’ll weave ’em another 
one, ” Jane answered, wisely, as she glanced up at the 
red buds on the trees. 

What had the trees to do with a bed quilt? 


■Adapted. 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


75 


My home is on the seacoast. I have many joints, 
and have ten feet. I can walk sideways or back¬ 
wards as easily as forward. I am quite large, but 
not so large as some of my family. Some of my 
brothers are nearly a yard in length, while others are 
so small they could rest on the end of your thumb. I 
feed on worms and insects. People would like to catch 
me, for they value me as an article of food, but I hide 
within my shell when I see anyone coming. I can run 
quickly, and am an expert swimmer. I change my 
shell every year. One of my relatives is called a 
Hermit. He has a mean way of stealing his shell. 
When he outgrows his own shell he crawls out and 
hunts for a larger one, of which he takes possession as 
if he was the real owner. When he is frightened he 
draws entirely within his. shell, and puts his claws 
against the opening to keep out intruders. 

❖ 

There is a bird who is very fond of playing tricks 
on his feathered companions. He will hide himself in 
the bushes, and will frighten small birds in the neigh¬ 
borhood by making a screeching sound like their great 
enemy, the hawk. This, of course, makes them scatter 
in great fear, and then he will try to laugh, and seem to 


76 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


enjoy the joke immensely. He breaks the eggs in the 
nests of smaller birds, injures the little birds, and makes 
himself very disagreeable, doing all this mischief, it 
appears, just for the pleasure it gives him to see others 
suffer. Once in a while he gets the worst of it, for a 
number of the smaller birds, tired of his tricks, will 
combine to fight him, and punish him for his bad con¬ 
duct. He is a great fighter himself, and there is 
usually a fierce battle before he is defeated. After 
such an attack he will behave himself properly for 
quite a time, and the little birds can enjoy them¬ 
selves without being molested. 

The boys, no doubt, know who this great joker is, 
so we will let the girls guess his name. 

— Selected . 

* 

❖ ❖ 

GUESSING CHARACTERS. 

A very pretty school exercise is carried on under 
the above title in this way. Twelve children are 
stationed in the ante-room. One passes in, and taking 
position on the platform, says: 

“I was one of the foremost officers in the war for 
the Union, though a small man. My men loved me 
and my horse, and should I name but one thing which 


nameless stories. 


77 


I did in the course of my brilliant career, every one in 
this room would at once know my name. ” 

Here the child reciting strikes an attitude and 
declaims: 

“ But there is a road from Winchester town, 

A good, broad highway leading down,” 

The school will, of course, give the name of Sher¬ 
idan, and the child leaves the platform, as another one 
comes from the ante-room and recites: 

“ I was a soldier, too, but I marched on foot while 
the general rode his famous black steed. I will tell 
you what I once did, however, for my fellow soldiers. 
There was no money to pay the poor fellows who were 
enduring so many hardships. So I went to the quarter 
master’s tent and offered to furnish the money to pay 
my company, and the offer was gratefully accepted. 
But the people of America know me as an inventor of 
one of the most wonderful machines of the world, rather 
than as a soldier. I think that nearly everyone here 
has such a machine at home.” 

The answer is Elias Howe, of sewing machine 
fame, but, as the children at home will probably say 
the machines at their homes . are Singers, etc., the 
teacher should explain that the Howe was the first, or 


78 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


among the first, invented, and that many improvements 
have since been made, enabling men to take out patents 
in their own names. 

Third Child. “ If a man who suffered in the cause* 
of right is a soldier, I was one in the highest sense, for 
I knew no voice but that of duty. I felt blame as 
keenly as any man, but neither praise nor blame made 
difference in my work. When my body was laid to 
rest in Mt. Auburn, a loved poet said of me: 

‘God said, “Break thou their yokes; undo 
Their heavy burdens;” I ordain 
A work to last my whole life thro’, 

A ministry of strife and pain. 

‘One language held his heart and lip, 

Straight onward t$ his goal he trod, 

And proved the highest statesmanship 
Obedience to the voice of God. ’ 

“Yes, under the cane of assassin in the Senate 
Chamber of the United States, when Massachusetts 
passed a sentence of censure upon me, or when men 
sang my praises, I obeyed the voice of conscience. And 
I succeeded in my work, and white and black bless the 
name of-” 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


79 


Child pauses until school gives the name of Charles 
Sumner, when he bows and gives way to the next. 

A teacher will be able from this outline to take up 
any character wished, and the exercises may be varied 
greatly, being made comprehensible to children of ten 
or twelve years, or interesting to high school pupils. 
Authors, inventors, statesmen, famous women, actors, 
kings, queens, etc., may be taken up at different times, 
while the exercise is an admirable one for a French or 
German class, if French or German characters are taken 
and the descriptions given in one of these languages. 

In arranging the exercise for a school exhibition or 
public speaking day, it would be well to have the school 
know the name of the person represented, and, after 
waiting a little to allow the audience to guess, have the 
name given by the school. When presented before the 
school only, if any name cannot be guessed, the teacher 
should encourage the pupils to look up the characters 
for themselves. 

— A merica n Teacher . 

❖ 

❖ ❖ 

LITTLE H. 0. 

The first thing I remember was playing with my 
mother, sisters and friends in a pond. We had splen¬ 
did times there, summer and winter. 


80 


nameless stories. 


One day a very nice little girl canie down to the 
pond. She was very near to me, and I jumped up and 
kissed her hand. After a time, Mr. Sun grew very 
bright and warm, and called my mother, sisters and 
friends to go up into the sky. I became very, very 
lonely, and at last Mr. Sun called me up, too. 

Up, up I went, until I saw my dear mother and 
sisters riding on a cloud. I jumped right on, and we 
were very happy in being together once more. Perhaps 
one reason why I enjoyed my journey to the cloud was, 
that no one could see me going, while I could see every¬ 
one and everything. One night our cloud carried us 
right past the moon, and we saw the man in the moon, 
and we saw the chimneys of the great cheese factories. 
When we passed the moon, little Miss Luna tossed us 
a moonstone, but we couldn’t keep it, so we threw it 
down to Mother Earth. 

We have been to Kindergarten, too. It was a 
much larger one than I ever saw in our city. Miss Sat¬ 
urn was the Kindergartner, and she was so gentle and 
kind. She had two of the lovliest large rings for her 
children to sit in. It seemed very cold and not very 
light near her. You know she is so far from the sun. 
One morning I awoke feeling so strange and cold. I 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


81 


heard a strange noise, too. Can you guess what it was ? 
Why, it was Jack Frost talking to the North Wind. 
He said, “ Did yon know Jennie had a nice new sled 
given her for Christinas, and she hasn’t had a chance to 
use it yet? Then, too, the dear old trees look so cold 
and bare. They have kindly covered up the little 
flowers with their leaf blankets. Why can’t we send 
them a nice, warm, white blanket? Let’s blow on this 
cloud. ” So they blew and blew, and what do you 
think happened to us ? Why we became very pretty 
snow flakes and began to go down, down. The kind 
east wind, and the sometimes rude north wind, blew us 
gently, first one way, then another, so we didn’t get 
dizzy, but fell very gently. When we were about down, 
I began to look to see where I was going. I was 
delighted when I found myself on the window pane of a 
window in Jennie’s house. Perhaps you think I wouldn’t 
stay here long, nor be very useful, but I knew Jennie 
had been ill and was lonely, as she was obliged to stay in 
her room all day, and felt sure she would be glad to see 
me. So I said at noon as I saw her, “ Good morning, 
Jennie.” She said, “ Good morning. Who are you? 
I am so delighted to see you. ” I told her who I was, 
and asked her if she remembered my kissing her hand 
in the pond once. I have been on a long journey since 


82 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


then, and have seen many strange things. Then I told 
her of all that had happened, and she seemed to like 
best to hear of Miss Saturn’s Kindergarten. I fancy 
that was because she, too, belonged to a nice Kinder¬ 
garten herself. 

— Selected . 

❖ 

* ❖ 

A PRINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 

I. 

The shower had ceased, but the city street 
Was flooded still with drenching rain, 

Tho’ men and horses with hurrying feet 
Swept on their busy ways again. 

II. 

The gutter ran like a river deep, 

By the clean washed pavements fast it rushed, 

As out of the spouts with a dash and a leap 
The singing, sparkling water gushed. 

III. 

A little kitten with ribbon blue 

Crossed over the way to the gutter’s brink; 

With many a wistful plaintive mew, 

She seemed at the edge to shudder and shrink. 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


83 


IV. 

And there she stood, while her piteous cries 
Were all unheard by the heedless throng, 
Looking across with such longing eyes; 

But the torrent was all too swift and strong. 

V. 

Up the street, o’er the pavements wide, ■ 
Wandered our Prince from Newfoundland, 
Stately and careless and dignified, 

Gazing about him on either hand. 

VI. 

The sun shone out on his glossy coat, 

And his beautiful eyes, soft and brown, 
With quiet, observant glance took note 
Of all that was passing him, up and down. 

VII. 

He heard the kitten that wailed and mewed, 

. Stopped to look and investigate, 

The whole situation understood, 

And went at once to the rescue straight. 


84 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


VIII. 

Calmly out into the street walked he, 

Up to the poor, little, trembling waif, 
Lifted her gently and carefully, 

And carried her over the water safe, 

IX. 

And set her down on the longed for shore, 
Licked her soft coat with a kind caress, 
Left her and went on his way once more, 
The picture of noble thoughtfulness. 


X. 

Oh, children dear, ’tis a lesson sweet; 

If Prince Newfoundland so wise can be, 

We should be gentle enough to treat 

All creatures with kindness and courtesy. 

XI. 

For surely among us there is not one, 

Who such au example could withstand; 

Who could wish in goodness to be outdone 
By a noble prince from Newfoundland. 

— Harper's Young People. 


nameeess stories. 


85 


Boys who live in the country usually have a num¬ 
ber of pets. I once knew a boy who had for his favorite 
companion an animal about two and a half feet long, 
with a beautiful, chestnut brown, fur coat. It had web 
feet, and was a fine swimmer. 

There was a pond on the farm, and my boy friend’s 
pet lived in a hole by the pond. It caught fish and 
frogs and small birds. It was very playful, and would 
amuse itself by sliding down the sloping bank of the 
po nd head foremost into the water, repeating this sport 
until exhausted. Its fur was made up of two layers 
one very soft and fine, the other a thin stifflayer of dark 
hairs. This fur was worth quite a good deal of money, 
but my boy would not part with his pet for all that. 

❖ ❖ 

One day Max went to sleep in school, — yes, right 
in school, and because he didn’t look very well, the 
teacher did not wake him. Presently he heard a voice 
saying: “ My home used to be in the salty ocean, and 
my house was built upon a rock, so that there was no 
danger of a wreck from the storms. I used to watch 
the great ships go by. I was an animal, you know, 
but not like the animals that you know about. I was 
full of holes, and I will tell you how I got my food. I 
drew water in through these holes, and as the water 


86 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


went in, I took out of it all the little fine bits of food 
that were in the water. One day I saw a boat with two 
men in it. They had long handled harpoons, or spears, 
with hooked prongs. But the water was very rough, 
so that they could not see me, but I could see them. 
So these men dipped a smooth stone in oil, and threw it 
several yards in front of the boat. And the oil dropped 
from the stone onto the water and made it smooth. 
Then the man leaned over the side of the boat and 
watched, and when he saw me he hooked onto me with 
his harpoon, tore me loose, and pulled me up to the 
boat. Sometimes men dive for such animals as I. 
When I was brought to shore, I was buried in sand a 
few days. Then I was beaten with a flat stick, and 
washed and squeezed, until only my skeleton remained. 
Don’t you think they used me rather mean? But you 
see I was of no use under the water, and my skeleton is 
used for many purposes. I am of great service to 
surgeons. I am used sometimes for stuffing mattresses 
and carriage cushions, and I don’t know how you 
children could get along at school without me. ” 

Just then the bell rang, and Max awoke, and told 
the teacher what he had dreamed; and the teacher told 

him that it was his-that had told him the pretty 

story. 



NAMELESS STORIES. 


87 


I live at your house, but probably the boys in the 
family are not so well acquainted with me as are the girls. 
I live in a corner most of the time. Your mother, 
perhaps, knows me better than you do, for she says 
that I am her friend. A friend, you know, should try 
to be good and kind and helpful, and I am sure that I 
try to be all these things to your mother. 

My dress is not made of cloth like yours. The 
material from which it is made grows in the fields, 
and is cultivated by the farmer after the manner of 
other crops. I think this material makes a pretty 
dress. You should notice the nice sewing on it. The 
stitches are long, but they are just right for such a 
garment. 

I can do one thing that you cannot do. I can 
stand on my head for the longest time! Sometimes I 
stand on my head all day and all night, but it does not 
hurt me at all, and standing in this position serves to 
keep my dress from wrinkling. 

I am peculiar in this, that I never work unless 
some one makes me, nor do I ever work alone. Please 
use me carefully, and do not throw me down when you 
are through using me, as I like to stand in my corner. 
If you use me well I will be your servant the longer. 
Boys sometimes work with me when they want to be 


88 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


helpful to their mothers, and the girls should be able 
to guess, at once, that I am Mrs. —-. 

❖ 

s* * 

Perhaps, boys, you have nad some rather hard 
work to do every day, for so long a time that you have 
come to dislike it. I felt that way about some work 
which I had to do regularly, but something happened 
one evening which caused me to think differently. 

It was nearly bed time, and I was sitting by the 
fire almost asleep, when all at once I heard noises. I 
did not give much attention to them at first, but after a 
while I began to wonder who was talking, for I was all 
alone in the room. I looked all around but could see 
no one. Again I listened, and, at last, it appeared to 
me that the voices were coming from the stove. 

I will tell you a little of what I heard. A voice 
seemed to be talking to its fellows, as they laid side by 
side in the stove. This is what it said: 

“Did you hear what that little boy said as he 
carried us up the back stairs this evening ? I have 
been angry about it ever since. To think of him say¬ 
ing such a thing! He said that he wished there never 
was anything like ourselves. Such a foolish boy! I 
wonder how people would get along without us ? How 



nameless stories. 


89 


would factories and steamships get along without ns ? 
What would city folks do without us in winter? I 
think if it were not for us this same little boy, who is 
now warming his toes by the fire, would have to go to 
bed with cold feet. Think of all the good we do in this 
world. We cause employment to be given to many 
poor men in need of work, who are engaged in digging 
us out of the ground. Then other men are employed 
in loading us on cars or boats, on which we ride all 
over the country. Some of us cross the lakes and are 
unloaded at the docks of great cities. We go to the 
factories and warehouses, and help to make all sorts of 
things that people could not get along very well with¬ 
out. We help to run machinery, and, in addition, to 
supply people gas and kerosene with which to light 
their homes and places of business. Some of us find 
our way into the dwellings of the rich. We warm their 
rooms and cook their food, but these can buy us in 
large quantities, and do not set so high a value upon 
us, perhaps, as do the poor people. ” 

Here a hand was laid on my shoulder, and mamma 
said, “ What! John, you are asleep by the fire, instead 
of in bed! ” 

I awoke, and found that the talking of the- 

was but a dream, but for many days after I thought of 
what I had dreamed. 



90 


nameless stories. 


There are a good many families of my name. I 
belong to one that lives in the fields. 

Yes, I know that I am black, and, perhaps, you 
may not care to form the acquaintance of black people; 
but only wait till I talk to you about the matter. Look 
over into that field. Do you not see the white horse 
trotting up to the black horse as though his friend ? 
And the black dog, is not the white dog his companion 
for a stroll through the woods ? And over there in the 
meadow, the black cow is lying beside the white cow, 
and no regard is paid to color. So, even if you are very 
white and I am very black, I think we can be good 
friends, do not you ? 

I must tell you where I live. Do you see that 
beautiful field over on the hillside? Well, my home is 
there. I shall not show you just where it is, because I 
do not want any one to know its location. It is a little 
secret kept by my wife and babies, and myself; but I 
can assure you that our home is bright and sunny and 
warm. 

Do you wish to know about jny little wife ? She 
looks very much like me, and I think she is pretty. 
Perhaps that is because I love her. She is not so noisy 
as I am, for I do all the singing. My wife says I have 
a very sweet voice. I sing chirrup! chirrup! chirrup! 


nameless stories. 


91 


Over and over again. I know only one tune, but we 
never get tired of it. It is better to sing one tune well, 
than to try to sing a good many tunes and sing all 
poorly. Nearly every one loves to hear us sing in the 
quiet of evening. 

Perhaps you would like to hear about our babies. 
They are queer little things. They look very much 
like their mother, only their wings are not so beautiful. 
You would say, verydikely, that they have no wings at 
all. Really, these are only the beginnings of wings. 
The babies were tiny things, but they grew until too 
large for their skin, which burst, and under it was a 
larger one to take its place. All of our people shed 
their skin six different times. But the babies eat and 
eat and eat, so that they may grow and grow and grow. 
You see they are in a hurry to grow until they have 
these beautiful wings, so that they, too, can sing. Do 
you know with what we sing? We sing with our 
wings, by rubbing one wing on the other, and that 
makes the pretty song. No, we do not sing with our 
mouth. We use that in eating. If you will come down 
to the field on a summer’s evening you will hear my 
friends and-myself sing. 

I must say good-bye now, for my little wife will be 
waiting for me. When you come to see us, please do 
not step upon any member of our family. 


92 


NAMELESS STORIES. 


My family name is found in the title of a book, by 
a well known author. Have you heard older people 
speak of a book called “The-on the Hearth?” 

* 

❖ ❖ 

“We’ve such a lot of cunning chicks ; 

Old Silver wing came off with six, 

And three are mine and three are Dick’s— 

Now, have you any chickens ? 

“ You’ve only one you always keep ? 

And don’t it cry, nor say, ‘Peep, peep ?’ 

Nor run about, nor go to sleep ? 

Why, what a funny chicken! 

“ And when you feed your other pets 
It never sulks and never frets, 

But rests content with what it gets— 

Why, what a lovely chicken ? 

“ How old is it ? You do not know? 

Older’n me? — why don’t it grow? 

I wish you’d let me see it — oh! 

It’s just a-chicken ! ” 

—Emma C. Dowd , in Si. Nicholas . 




SUPPLEMENTARY READING. 


_ j “No man can read with profit that which he can not learn to read with pleasure.”— 

Happily the old way of conducting reading exercises in our schools has 
given place, to a greater or lesser extent, to better methods. Additional 
reading matter has come to be a very important factor in school work. 
The selections found in the adopted readers , by reason of much usage, be¬ 
come lacking in interest to the pupil. Then it is that supplementary matter 
-selections from history, biography, or story are found very helpful. It 
serves to make keen the appetite of the pupil for the reading lesson. 

We are prepared to furnish reading matter for all 
grades. 

Stafford’s Reading Leaflets.— Supplementary to first reader. 
By Miss Stafford, of the Chicago schools. Miss Stafford has been a con¬ 
tributor to juvenile literature for a considerable length of time. Her long 
experience as a teacher combined with her literary ability give her special 
fitness for the preparation of these leaflets. There are sixteen leaflets in a 
set, size 6x9 in., printed on both sides. The arrangement of the subject 
matter is largely conversational in style. Price per set, 10 Cents; per 
dozen sets, $1.20. These prices include postage. 

Stafford’s Reading Leaflets. — Supplementary to second 
reader. The first reader leaflets were so well received that Miss Stafford 
has prepared additional work for second reader classes. There are 
twenty leaflets in a set. The size is 6 x 9 inches, printed on both sides. 
Price 12 cents per set, or $1.20 per dozen sets, post paid. 

Supplementary Reading Cards .—For first reader grade. Pre¬ 
pared by an experienced teacher. It is the plan to give these cards to the 
pupil one at a time. This plan prevents reading the exercises in advance 
of the lesson and any consequent loss of interest in it. These cards are 
also suggestive to the teacher of additional work. They are printed on 
heavy manila and placed in strong envelopes. Sixteen cards in a set. 
Size 6x9 inches. Sample set 10 cents; per dozen sets, post paid, $1.10. 

Supplementary Reading Cards. — Second reader grade. These 
reading exercises are largely in the form of stories, from which lessons in 
good morals may be drawn. Twenty cards in a set. One lesson on a card. 
Price per set, 12 cents; per dozen sets, $1.20, post paid. 

Supplementary Reading Cards.— Third reader grade. This 
set includes twenty-eight cards. Size, 6x9 inches, printed on both sides. 
Following the introduction of First and Second Reader Cards , came a great 
many letters from teachers asking for like work for third reader classes. 
These cards afford entertainment and instruction. Price per set, 15 cents; 
per dozen sets, $144. post paid. 

Fables. Stories and Facts for Reproduction. -By Annie 
A. Wright. This book contains selections well calculated to delight youth¬ 
ful readers. There are found in the books such stories as that of the 
‘ Foolish Mouse,” “The Hare and the Hedge Hog,” “The Fox and the 
Grapes,” and many others. There are articles on plants, animals and 
birds; sketches of noted men and selections of poetry. Fables , Stories 
and Facts , is a book adapted for use in ungraded schools. 96 pages, 
paper. Price for introduction, 20 cents; $1.80 per dozen, transportation 
paid. 

Stories of Norse Gods and Heroes.— Edited by Annie 
Klineensmith This book contains a collection of twenty stories of Norse 
mythology prepared for school use. A teacher in referring to this book 



says: “ I never had so much interest with so little effort .” These stories 
may be used for second and third grade reading. 98 pages. Illustrated. 
Prices lor introduction: paper, 20 cents; boards, 25 cents. 

Science Readers. —By L. Mae Nelson. That the child nature 
responds to nature study in its details, is the foundation on which M»iss 
Nelson builds. Book First is now ready. It was prepared to meet the de¬ 
mand for science reading. The lessons are adapted to the several seasons 
of the year. Those studies in science which are likely to be carried on at 
a certain season of the year, may be undertaken in connection with the 
stories for that season. 96 pages. Large type. Many illustrations. For 
introduction: boards, 20 cents; cloth, 25 cents. 

Book Second is in preparation. 

Nature Myths and Stories for Young Children. By 

Flora J. Cooke t of the Cook County Normal School. Miss Cook, feeling the 
need of stories founded upon good literature for the use of children 
in the lower grades, undertook the preparation of Nature Myths and 
Stories. In addition to being a beautiful reading book, it is aimed to make 
the little work suggestive to the teacher of a great amount of material, 
near at hand, which can be put to good use. 96 pages. Price for intro¬ 
duction: paper, 15 cents; boards, 20 cents; cloth, 25 cents. 

Much pleased with the book. 

Bradford. Pa., Nov. 13,1893. 

A. Flanagan, Chicago. 

My dear sir.—Please accept our thanks for the paper bound copy of Nature Myths 
and Stories. If bound in stiff covers we would be pleased to have you send at once one 
hundred copies. Our teachers are much pleased with the book, and they may obtain regular 
use with us, as we have abolished the old-time readers. Very truly yours, 

Henry R. Roth. 

Krackowisers’s Study of Hiawatha consists of two parts: 
Part I.—Hints to Teachers. Presenting in a suggestive way Hints on an 
adaptation of the poem of Hiawatha to the needs of first grade children, 
showing its relation to first grade work in its several branches, and its 
value to children from the standpoint of literature, as such. 

Part II. —The Reader.—Presents results obtained from the children 
by carrying out a line of work such as is suggested in Part I. It is the 
practical outgrowth of the same, as will be seen by the lessons bearing upon 
the Indian and Hiawatha, the Topics in Science, and of Myths and 
- Stories. Price for the complete work, nicely illustrated, 20 cents. 

Nameless Stories.— For supplementary reading and story telling. 
Interesting descriptions of plants, insects and common things, the name of 
which the pupil is to tell. These stories are entertaining and instructive. 
Pupils will enjoy them. They teach observation. For introduction, 20 cts. 

Story of the Three Americas.— By Eunice C. Corbett and 
Anna Content. These stories are historical in character. Those sources of 
history regarded as most reliable have been followed in the preparation of 
this work. The story form has been followed to quicken the interest of 
young minds and to provoke a desire to further historical study. The ad¬ 
ventures and escapes and hardships of themen who discovered and opened 
the way to settlement of the three Americas make very interesting read¬ 
ing. 200 pages. Cloth. Introduction price, 50 cents. 

Black Beauty, His Grooms and Companions.— By A. 
Sewell. This book is styled the “ Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Horse! It 
should be read by every boy and girl. 240 pages. Paper, Price, 15 cents. 

SEQUELS TO BLACK BEAUTY. 

No. 1 , Our Gold Mine. 154 pages, paper. 

No. 2, The Strike at Shanes. 91 pages, paper. These sequels 
are interesting reading, calculated to teach not only children but grown 
people the lesson of kindness to animals. Price of each, per copy, 15 cts.; 
$1.50 per dozen, postpaid. 

Other valuable works in preparation. 

A. FLANAGAN, Chicago. 


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3 1 














































































































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•* 




























LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 









L 



••• ••• ••• IF 80, ••• ••• 
IT 


••• ••• THESE GOODS * •• 




II 




L 


'fim 


0 003 132 990 5 


Alphabet Cards, 4( 

Arithmetic Cards, 

Busy Work Device 
Cook’s Methods in 
Curious Cobwebs, l.vyo. X COUU UrtiUlI.• «••• •• •••• ^ 

Castle’s School Entertainments. 30 

Drawing Made Easy, Cards and Manual, Sets I, II, 

III, IV, each. 25 

Easy Experiments in Chemistry and Philoso¬ 
phy.• •• • 25 

Favorite Speakers, Primary, Intermediate, 

Higher, each. 20 

Flag Drill. 20 

Fountain Song Book. 1-5 

Gems of Thought—Literary Cards. -10 

Grube Method in Arithmetic. 30 

Gymnas tic Ma uual. 15 

General History Cards, 140 cards in box. 50 

Graded Literary Cards, Eng. or American, ea. 50 

Hull's Drawing Designs, sheets. 20 

“ “ “ book. 35 

How to Study XL S. History. 1 00 

History Outlines, best out. 25 

Historical Mottoes for the Wall. 32 

Historical Stories of America. 10 

Hunter’s Historical Cards. 40 

Hunter’s Wall Mottoes...~ 50 

Improved History Cards, 200 in box...... . 1 00 

Improved Geography Cards, 200 in box.. 1 00 

Illinois and the Nation. 00 

Labor-Saving Test Problems. 35 

Merry Songs, words and music. 30 

Merry Melodies, words and music. 15 

McCormick's Practical Geography. 1 00 

Morrison’s Readings and Recitations, 1 & 2, ea. 20 

Manual of School Exercises. CO 

Muscle, Beauty and Health Gymnastics. 60 

Myths for Youngest Readers. 10 

Outlines of Civil Government. 15 

“ “ Physiology. 15 

Practical Etiquette, cloth. 40 

Pedagogical Ideas. 75 

Pritchard’s Choice Dialogues. 20 

Quantrell’s Pocket Class Book. 35 

Quincy Course in Arithmetic. 15 

Report Cards, per 100. 50 cents and 1 00 

Reward Cards, large variety. 

Readings and Quotations. 25 

Supplementary Reading Cards. 1st Reader, 

10c.; 2d Reader, 12c.; 3d Reader. 15 

Supplementary Reading Leaflets, 1st Reader 

10c.; 2d Reader. 12 

Stencils for Blackboards, 200 designs, each ... 05 

Songs of School Life (words only). 06 

Sunbeams of Song (words only). 06 

Sentence Cards. 30 

Select Stories for Opening School. 90 

Skeleton Compositions. 15 

Suggestions for Busy Seat Work. 15 

Talks With My Pupils. 50 


All Progressive Teachers have my Catalogue and 
refer to it Daily. It is the Most Complete in its line 
issued. Sent Free. Do not Delay. 

A. FLANAGAN, 262 WABASH AVE„ 6HI6AG0. 



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